


Dressed Up

by ReaderOfFics817



Category: The Rookie (TV 2018)
Genre: F/M, Friendship, Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 12:35:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29901186
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ReaderOfFics817/pseuds/ReaderOfFics817
Summary: The ladies of Mid-Wilshire are getting ready for an LAPD fundraiser and find out there's been a development in the will they won't they saga of Tim and Lucy. Things are figured out. Just a random, fun thought on how they could develop.
Relationships: Tim Bradford & Lucy Chen, Tim Bradford/Lucy Chen
Comments: 6
Kudos: 101





	Dressed Up

Angela and Nyla showed up at Lucy’s apartment, their dresses in tow. The LAPD was holding a fundraising gala to support community outreach programs and the women of Mid-Wilshire were all about it - an excuse to dress up, have champagne on work’s dime, and hang out. They had basically informed the guys they would be getting ready and expected a pick up twenty minutes before the start. 

Within a half hour Lucy’s room was covered in various hair tools and make up. Jackson had kept his distance, but brought them each a glass of wine before going out to hang out with Wes and Nolan, who had also just walked in. It was rare they all got to hang out alone, leading to quite the lively girl talk. 

“I swear, seeing him with Danny is the sexiest thing.” Angela sighed, their son now almost a year old, “Nyla, back me up here. After you had your daughter, seeing your ex with her, hot right?” 

“Oh yeah. Especially when they would nap all snuggled up on the couch.” Nyla nodded, “Even now, if we’re in the same room and he starts to piss me off, if he switches to dad mode I’m instantly less annoyed.” 

“See. I’m not crazy.”

“Never said you were,” Lucy laughed. “It’s hard wired into our brains to find men in a caring role attractive.” 

“Speaking of finding men attractive…” Angela started, “What’s up with you and Bradford?” 

The question taking her surprise, she lost focus on the hot curling iron in her hand, “Fuck!” Lucy hit her hand with the wand. 

“You alright there Chen?” Nyla smirked, also aware of the latest gossip regarding Lucy and Tim. 

“Yeah, somehow always get myself at least once.” Lucy shook her hand, before continuing to work on her hair. 

“Uh hu,” Angela continued, “So you and Tim?” 

“What about me and Tim?” She asked, pretending she had no idea what Angela was talking about. 

“You’ve been…. How would you describe it Harper? Flirty?” 

“Flirty would be an understatement. You guys have a definite thing.” Nyla chuckled, “He looks at you like he wants to eat you alive… in a good way.” She winked, still laughing. 

Lucy bit her lip, not sure what to say. It was new, he had kissed her once, out of the blue two nights ago. Granted, when she thought about the last few weeks, hell months even, she knew they had been obviously toeing the line long before he had finally taken a chance and kissed her. 

“Ooooh something totally happened.” Nyla giggled, teasing Lucy’s obvious discomfort. 

“I… well… hmph.” Lucy smiled guiltily. 

“Spill, Chen.” Angela stopped doing her make up and turned her attention to Lucy just as Nyla had. 

“Fine fine. We kissed okay? Just once, like two days ago. I don’t know what it means, we haven’t gotten a chance to talk about it.” 

“Holy SHIT!” Angela’s jaw dropped, “Wait wait wait, how did this happen? This is HUGE.” 

Lucy shrugged, “We got drinks after work and when he walked me back to my car… I don’t know it just kind of happened? We were laughing about something one minute, the next.. there we were.” She tried to avoid eye contact. She didn’t know what to make of the whole situation and was trying not to get too excited, Tim was a finicky guy. But, she also knew she hadn’t thought about much else since it happened. 

“And you haven’t talked about it?” Nyla chimed in. 

“No, we haven’t even seen each other, he had yesterday off and I worked all day.” 

“Was this like a quick peck or like full blown make out?” Angela of course asked all the important questions. 

“You guys won’t say anything when he gets here right?” 

“We promise.” They both said at the same time. 

“Full blown make out.” She smiled, but obviously still apprehensive about the whole situation. 

“And how was it?” Nyla wiggled her eyebrows. 

She paused, trying to find the words to describe what kissing Tim Bradford felt like, “It was… unbelievable,” she sighed, “I swear I think I forgot my own name.” 

“Wow.” Nyla and Angela stared at Lucy, a bit in shock that the inevitable finally happened. 

Just then Jackson poked his head in, “You guys almost ready? Bradford just got here.” He then paused, reading the room as Angela gave him a glare like ‘get out’, “Uh… okay, we’ll be waiting out here then.” 

“Does Jackson know?” 

“No.” Lucy answered, nervous butterflies making themselves known once Jackson had indicated Tim was there. 

“You’re nervous.” Angela noticed. 

“A little…. I just… what if he regrets it?” She played with the ring he had thrown back to her almost two years ago. 

“There’s no way he regrets it.” Nyla smiled reassuringly. 

“Yeah, he wouldn’t do that, especially with you unless he was sure. He’s had a thing for you for like ever. Everyone sees it.” Angela held Lucy’s dress out to her, “Now, put this on, and go knock his socks off…. Or pants. Whatever.”

“ANGELA!” Lucy blushed. 

“What?” She asked innocently, with a smile, “Gonna tell me that’s not what you want?” 

“Yeah, Chen. He’s there for the taking and honestly, probably just as nervous as you, if not more so.” 

“I… well… ugh” Lucy rolled her eyes, knowing she couldn’t deny the innuendo. Taking the dress from her hands, she slid it off the hanger and pulled it on. When all three of them were zipped up and ready to go they made their way out into the living room where the guys were waiting. 

Jackson whistled immediately as they walked in, Angela and Nyla spinning around with a laugh, showing off their gowns. It wasn’t every day they all got to dress up. 

Lucy looked at Tim while the others were distracted, still a little nervous about where they stood. He eyed her up and down, before meeting her gaze and smiling, a quiet conversation occurring between the two. She calmed immediately, walking up to him with a smile. “Looking good, Bradford.” She said quietly. He was in a navy suit, with a light blue shirt underneath that brought out his eyes. He had forgone the tie, leaving the top few buttons undone, giving her a peak at the strength of his chest underneath. 

“We going? We’re gonna be late.” Nolan tried to usher everyone out the door. 

“Yes, Dad.” Nyla rolled her eyes, forever joking at his age and how he could be such a stereotype. 

Tim, not having had an opportunity to answer Lucy right away, hung back so they could be the last to walk out the door. As they followed everyone, he placed his hand on the small of her back, leaning towards her to speak, “You tryin to give me a heart attack with that dress?” He smiled flirtatiously. 

She laughed, girly and genuine, “Only the good kind.” 

— 

An hour into the party, Tim got up to get another round of drinks, Angela quickly following along. 

“This is actually more fun than I expected,” Angela made small talk, wanting to get to the real discussion. 

“Yeah, it’s not terrible. At least the booze is free.” Tim answered. In reality he enjoying himself for an entirely different reason. 

“True.” She smiled, obviously having enjoyed a few drinks already, “You and Lucy seem to be having a nice time, too. Something going on there?” 

“Heh?” He wasn’t sure where this was going. 

“I’m just saying, you guys seem to be enjoying each other’s company.” 

“Yeah…and?” 

She shrugged as they made their way to the bar line. 

“She say something to you?” Tim asked, having a feeling Angela knew more than she was letting on. 

“She might have.” Angela smiled, “Good for you, Tim. It’s about time.” 

“What’d she tell you?” 

“Just that you laid one on her.” She smirked. 

“We haven’t talked about it.” He sighed. 

“Do you really need to? That girl thinks the world of you and you’ve been pining over her for how long now? Shouldn’t be a hard conversation.” 

“I have not been pining.” He argued. 

“What would you call it?” 

“Cautiously waiting for the right time.” He answered without looking at her. 

“From what Lucy said, it seems like you picked the right time.” Angela confirmed before ordering another flute of champagne, “Don’t fuck it up.” She smiled, nudging him with her shoulder. 

“I’ll do my best.” He smiled with an eye roll, ordering a drink for Lucy and himself. 

— 

“Any chance you wanna go take a walk to the water?” Tim asked, finally finding Lucy alone, them both being pulled in multiple directions by the higher ups. 

“You need a break from schmoozing donors?” Lucy responded, knowing these things weren’t necessarily Tim’s idea of a good time. 

“Please, before another one finds me.” 

“Well c’mon then.” She smiled, walking towards the back doors of the banquet hall. There was a back porch with stairs leading to the sand. 

They made their way down the steps, Lucy pulling her heels off before she reached the sand. Tim, being the gentleman he was, took them to carry for her. 

“You don’t have to carry those.” 

“I want to.” He smiled. 

“Okay,” she smiled back, enjoying the chivalrous side of him. She walked closer to him, grasping his elbow with her hand so that there was no space between them. 

They walked quietly at first, enjoying the stillness after a long night. Though it was fun, they were trained to be hyper attune at work, regardless of the type of work. Eventually, Lucy spoke, “Did I see the Chief chatting you up?” 

“Ha, a little.” He answered, “Grey wants me to take his spot when he retires.” 

“Is he retiring?” 

“Not yet, but maybe not far off.” 

“Captain Bradford has a nice ring to it.” She slid her hand down to grasp his. 

“Maybe.” He smiled, “You look beautiful tonight by the way, I don’t think I’ve actually told you that.” 

“Much better than those wool uniforms, huh?” 

He squeezed her hand, “No, you’re beautiful in those too.” 

She smiled to herself, not used to blatant compliments from him. He was cute, which was a word she wasn’t used to associating with her former TO. Badass? Cocky? Hot? Sure. Cute was new and it might be prove to be her favorite. 

“I know we haven’t had a chance to really talk about the other night,” he started, “but I hope you know I didn’t do that on a whim, I’ve been wanting to do that for awhile.” 

“Good, because I’ve wanted you to do that for awhile.” 

“Yeah?” He asked, almost like he didn’t believe it. 

“Does that surprise you?” 

“No… Yes… I don’t know.” He laughed, looking out into the darkness of the beach, his flustered behavior adding to the cuteness factor. 

“Well, it shouldn’t. And for the record, if you ever want to do that again, I wouldn’t be opposed.” She stopped walking, his extra step causing him to turn around, now standing in front of her. 

“Is that so?” He asked with a playful smirk. 

“Mhm, you can do that whenever you want. Lay em on me, Bradford.” 

He laughed, loud and genuine, “I can most definitely do that.” He then reached up and cupped her cheek with his hand, pulling her mouth to his, just as he had the other night. This time however, he was less rushed, less frenzied, the confidence of knowing where they stood adding to the softness he reserved solely for her.

The nervous butterflies she had felt around him all night fluttered away as his lips met hers. She finally felt like she was where she was supposed to be, in the arms of the only man that made her feel completely safe, strong, and confident. She smiled against his mouth, letting her hands sneak under his suit jacket to trail up his hard chest. 

“Wanna get out of here?” He asked, pulling back once they were both breathless, her wandering hands too much for him in such a public place. 

“Yeah,” she nodded, her smile reaching her eyes, “Let’s go.” 

They ran hand in hand back to the party, grabbing her bag and phone, and sneaking out before anyone could stop them. Lucy’s phone buzzed as he started his truck, looking down she saw she had a text from Angela. “Get it, girl!! Told you that dress would knock his pants off ;P” causing Lucy to laugh. 

“What?” Tim smiled at her. 

“Nothing, just Angela saw us leave.” 

“Do I even want to know?” He laughed. 

“Let’s just say she’s supportive.” She slid into the middle seat, letting her hand fall to his leg, as she teased him. “Drive, Bradford.” She whispered in his ear, causing him to wordlessly throw the truck in drive and pull out of the parking lot, driving them to the place they would both one day call home.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you liked! I love how Harper and Lopez are taking Lucy under their wing, but as always need Chenford fun - so this was how I saw it all coming together.


End file.
